Posted on April 20, 2021
VICKSBURG, Miss. – Dr. Igor Linkov, senior science and technology manager at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Environmental Laboratory, has been selected by the George Washington University and Arthur S. Flemming Commission as one of 12 exceptional public servants in 2020.
The winners – who represent a range of federal agencies – are recognized for performing outstanding service in the fields of applied science and engineering, basic science, leadership and management, legal achievement and social science. Linkov was recognized in the leadership and management category for his work supporting multiple agencies throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am pleased and humbled to receive this recognition,” Linkov said. “This is a credit to the ERDC’s Risk and Decision Science Team’s achievements – I am extremely grateful for all of my colleagues, who worked around the clock during the COVID-19 crisis and were able to apply risk and resilience analytics and decision science to address urgent societal needs. I have also benefited from the vision of ERDC and EL leadership, who supported my team’s research developing tools and methods that we were able to transition into practice in record time.”
The award was established in 1948 to honor federal employees’ outstanding service, attract and recruit talent to the public service and retain the “best of the best” in government service. The award celebrates stellar employees with three to 15 years of federal service. Past recipients of the award include Neil Armstrong, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Robert Gates and many others.
Linkov leads ERDC’s portfolio in resilience and crises management. His research vision and methodology in risk, resilience and decision science have generated tools and practices that are in use by the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Health and Human Services and other agencies.
“In the thirteen years he has been a part of the ERDC Environmental Laboratory, Linkov has demonstrated a strong commitment to improving understanding of risk and decision science at the ERDC, the Department of Defense and throughout academia,” Dr. David Pittman, ERDC director, said in a written statement.
He has communicated scientific principles through peer-reviewed publications, conference proceedings and presentations. He has published 26 books and over 400 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters.
Pittman described how Linkov’s contributions to the scientific community have made him a role model in the field of risk and decision science. “Igor’s efforts to advance the common good are exemplified through his extensive collaborations with academic partners,” Pittman said.
More than 100 undergraduate and graduate students and post-doctoral fellows have been integrated into these collaborations under Linkov’s direction.
Linkov will be honored at the 72nd annual Arthur S. Flemming Awards virtual celebration this summer.
